Thursday, February 13, 2014

Irish bishops won’t release survey results

The Irish bishops have said they will not be releasing the results of
a survey of Catholics ahead of the Extraordinary General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops which is due to take place at the Vatican in
October.

The Vatican ordered the worldwide survey on ‘Pastoral Challenges in
the Family,’ exploring issues such as cohabitation, contraception, and
Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried.

Both Ireland and the English and Welsh Churches claim that the
Vatican asked them to keep the outcome of the survey confidential.

A
spokesman for the Irish bishops told The Irish Catholic that they would not be releasing a statement about the results.

However, the German bishops’ report elaborates on the differences
seen in the survey, “above all when it come down to pre-marital
cohabitation, the status of divorced and remarried, birth control and
homosexuality.”